| dc.description.abstract | Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is broadly used as a catalyst to accelerate hemicellulose and a
considerable part of the lignin components decomposition to generate sugars as intermediate chemicals
for further processing steps. Mainly, lignocellulose biomass such as hardwoods, agricultural waste, and
grasses contains xylose as major constituent. Thus, the presence of xylose in decomposition of
lignocellulose biomass is obvious. Meanwhile, the furfural production originates mainly from the
hydrolysis of hemicellulose into monomeric sugars and the dehydration of sugars into furfural. Shortly,
this works is to investigate the role of xylose in furfural decomposition. To gain insight into role of
xylose in furfural decomposition, xylose and furfural were added into ampoules containing sulfuric
acid. The investigated parameters were xylose concentration, T and t. During the reaction, the
parameters were kept constant. The product was filtered, then, qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed
by HPLC. The result shows that the presence of Xylose in sulfuric acid solution as a catalyst contributes
the competition of decomposition mechanism. The xylose at the early time of the reaction, 15 minutes,
needed time to initiate the reaction, so the furfural was exposed with the decomposition. Xylose would
be mostly degraded into furfural and glyceraldehyde within 15 minutes of the reaction. This finding is
obviously described in chromate profile which identified xylose, furfural, glyceraldehyde, and formic
acid. The other component formed during the reaction was humins (insoluble polymer). | en_US |
